1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a computer-implemented method for inputting data entries of a service and, in particular, to a method for inputting data entries of a service for use with a portable electronic device having a touch screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As portable electronic devices become more and more popular and widely used, a variety of services, such as personal information management (PIM), social utilities, Web search, navigation and so on, are developed for device users. Development in portable devices continues to strive towards user interfaces which are user-friendly and suitable for the variety of services, because an efficient, user-friendly interface is vital for user acceptance of any consumer product.
For a portable device, one criterion by which the user interface is evaluated is the ease with which data entries may be inputted into the services themselves. One of the conventional implementations for users to input data entries is through a complex menu. Users have to get into each of the menu items to set the corresponding data contents by different graphic user interfaces (GUIs) or even by linking into another complex menu.
For example, if users would like to create an event in a calendar service, a list of menu items is provided to users. Users have to select one of the items for inputting topic information which leads users to a text input GUI. After text input finished, users have to select another one of the items for setting a date which leads users to a calendar GUI. After the desired date is set, users need to repeat similar actions for other menu items, until all the necessary data entries for the calendar event are set well.
Another implementation is to flatten the complex menu to generate a plurality of data entry fields and display them on a plurality of screen areas with buttons, text input GUIs and menus. In a typical point-and-touch user interface, a particular data entry field is chosen to receive corresponding data entries by stroking on a screen area corresponding to the particular data entry field. Then the corresponding data entries are entered or set in the respective screen area. A similar procedure is followed to correct or update the content in a particular data entry field wherein the user strokes on the corresponding screen area and corrects or updates the data within the screen area for that particular field.
In summary, the implementations mentioned above usually require a large quantity of complex user strokes and lead to an uncomfortable user experience. Accordingly, what is needed is a method to make inputting data entries of a service more intuitive and efficient.